Perth Glory kept their slim finals hopes alive with a crushing 3-0 win over fourth-placed Western United at the Sam Kerr Football Centre on Friday night.
Western came into Round 18 in need of a win to consolidate their place inside the top four but instead it was ninth-placed Perth who emerged victorious, thanks to a Kelli Brown brace and a Susan Phonsongkham sealer on return from a six-month injury absence.
With three points sealed, Glory moved up to ninth on the Ninja A-League table – six point behind Central Coast Mariners in sixth.
Brisbane Roar, Central Coast and Canberra United all sit within two points of Western United on the table and, with the Mariners and Canberra set to play their respective Ninja A-League fixtures this weekend, Western could drop down to sixth by the end of Round 18.
Glory striker Brown had a busy first half and could have had multiple goals before the break but her first big chance of the night was thwarted by CommBank Matildas goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln, who produced a big save to deny the Glory striker.
But there was nothing Lincoln could do to keep Brown off the scoresheet just minutes later when the recently-capped Football Fern opened the scoring.
Picked out by a superb Sarah O’Donoghue ball into the box, Brown buried the ball into the bottom-right corner to give the hosts a deserved 1-0 lead.
Brown’s fourth goal of the season came after her recent debut for New Zealand against Costa Rica in an international friendly on February 23.
Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo came close to finding an instant reply for Western when she shot on the turn inside the box, just one minute after her side fell behind at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
Glory keeper Casey Dumont was beaten by the low strike but, unfortunately for Logarzo, the ball struck the woodwork and diverted out for a goal kick.
Dumont was called into action with 10 minutes of the first half still to play when Isabel Dehakiz unleashed a venomous volley from inside the box.
Dehakiz’s strike was of top quality but Dumont produced a save to match, leaping to her left to parry the ball away.
With just over 20 minutes to play in the second half, a special moment presented for Glory midfielder Susan Phonsongkham, who came off the bench to mark her long-awaited injury return after an ankle injury suffered in the NPL Victoria Grand Final in September.
Phonsongkham wasted no time making an impact on her Glory return, playing Megan Wynne through on goal with the pass that led to a desperate challenge from Julia Sardo on the Welsh international, and the Western defender’s subsequent red card.
With a one-player and one-goal advantage, Glory pressed on in search of a second to put the result beyond doubt, and in the 81st minute Brown produced the killer blow.
Played in on goal by Natalie Tathem, Brown shaped to shoot but Grace Maher’s challenge sent the ball toward Lincoln in goal. The Western keeper, however, failed to keep the ball within her grasp as Brown pounced to convert her brace.
Five minutes later, it was party time in Perth for Glory as a penalty awarded to the hosts sent Phonsongkham to the spot for a coolly-taken penalty on her return to the Ninja A-League.
